Local girl wins Oscar

Well done to Essex girl Helen Mirren, for winning the best actress Oscar for The Queen. It always great when the Brits win the big awards.

Born in Ilford, she received education even more locally at St Bernards Convent High School in Westcliff On Sea. However, you'd never ever guess this when you consider that her real name is Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov! Apparently, her great-great-great-great-grandfather was field marshall Mikhail Kamensky, one of the Russian heroes of the Napoleonic Wars.

A quote from the Daily Telegraph today:
Helen Mirren, holding a Union Jack which she had taken from the Sky TV interviewer, when asked if she had a “naughty side”: “Me, naughty? No, I am good through and through, I’m an Essex girl.” See, you can't tar all Essex girls with the same brush!

I haven't seen the film yet. I'm not entirely sure it will be my cuppa tea as I'm not really into royalty. However, I may give it a go on dvd.

I feel I should also mention Jennifer Hudson who won best supporting actress for her part in Dreamgirls. At the time the nominations were announced, I knew the name rang a bell, but now I know - she was one of the contestants in American Idol 2006. What an amazing achievement in such a short space of time. I bet she could hardly believe her luck!

Spurs 4 (Yes 4)! Bolton 1

Wooooooooooohoooooooo! Can you tell I'm happy? Wow what a game - worth every penny of the ticket price. This is what the game is all about - exciting football from start to finish with a fantastic atmosphere to boot.

After three consecutive defeats: the Carling Cup semi-final against the scum down the road, an embarrassing 4-0 thrashing at home against the Northern scum and then going down 2-1 at home to Sheffield Utd, it was back to business with a 4-0 away win vs Fulham in the FA Cup last Sunday, and beating Everton 2-1 away in mid-week. So hopes were high of a repeat performance today, and we were certainly given a treat!

Three Spurs legends made special appearances at the Lane today: Glenn Hoddle (my childhood hero), Martin Peters and Pat Jennings. We also stood next to Trevor Francis and Martin Tyler as they purchased a baguette from one of the food stalls inside the East Stand!!



Bolton definitely didn't look the good side that they are, and within 25 minutes, we were 3-0 up with goals from Keane (2) and Jenas. You could say, beyond your wildest dreams and expectations! However, with extreme highs, you always seem to get a low with Spurs, when on 36 minutes, Robbie Keane was adjudged to have handled the ball on the goal line and was immediately red carded by Graham Poll, awarding Bolton a penalty. As per usual, Gary Speed comfortably scored from the spot. We couldn't see the incident due to the crowded penalty area and I will reserve judgement until I see the highlights later tonight. So it was down to 10 men for the last 55 minutes of the game. After feeling elation, I suddenly felt like it was all going to slip away. However, I'm glad to say, I was wrong - Spurs today were a different side: although they played a little deep for the first 15 minutes of the second half, no-one fell to pieces and they remained composed and professional. You'd never know they were playing with one man short. It wasn't until injury time that a quick break lead to a 4th goal from Lennon.

Berbatov was superb up front on his own. Every ball played to him from distance was controlled beautifully, his touches were brilliant and no-one could get near him. I'll be the first to admit that when he was first signed at the beginning of the season, I had reservations of his ability, but he has truly won the hearts of the fans with his skills and goal scoring. Still, I can't ignore the rest of the team; they all played their part today - Aaron Lennon was as exciting as ever, and Robbie proved his weight in gold with two goals. His partnership with Berbatov is going to be one of the best in the Premiership I believe. Mind you, he'll now be suspended for 3 games, so I hope that doesn't upset the structure too much.





I'd had to laugh at John. Poor thing. He always has a bet when we go to games and today he bet on scores of 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, 3-2 and 4-0. Any win would have covered the bet placed so you'd think he couldn't lose. But once again, about 30 seconds before the final whistle, Spurs score another goal - and it always seems to be Lennon that spoils the day for John!

And just to make the day even better - the Arse scum lost in the Carling Cup final. Hehe!

Just what I needed...a good laugh!

It doesn't doesn't happen very often that myself and my old school pals manage to get together all at the same time, but we managed it last night (but only just). Suk and Leigh were the hosts at their huge house in Rayleigh. John and I gave Ellie and Simon a lift, Elena

and her sister Lianne made their own way there, as did Sunita, Praful and their two girls. However, Sunita's family only stayed an hour as she said the girls had been ill - they

seemed ok to everyone else as they went off to play; it was Sunita herself that was looking a bit tired. So unfortunately, they didn't stay for dinner.




Suk put on a lovely spread as usual. For starters: proper Chinese mini veggie pancake rolls with sweet chilli dip and slices of green pepper, cucumber and carrot. You couldn't stop eating them - they were so yummy, but I had to leave some room for the next two courses. Being the non-meat eater, I had ratatouille whilst the rest had spicy chicken, noodles, veg and potato mix and salad. For dessert, it was one of Suk's infamous crumbles. Apple and pear this time. I just about managed a few mouthfuls with custard. Excellent tucker my dear Suk!

Afterwards, the fun began. It was cocktail time! There was a wide range of spirits, liqueurs and juices to choose from and everyone took it in turn to make each other their own concoction. Funny how they seemed to get stronger and stronger as the night wore on. Unfortunately, I was driving so I limited myself and as soon as I started feeling the effects, I stopped. Elena could almost drink for England. Having sipped a couple of her drinks, I nearly passed out but she put them away without too much trouble. Boy! Some of those mixtures were lethal! I now know I don't like tequila and I'm not too keen on Baileys but everything else was nice.

Leigh decided we should play Celebrity Heads - the game where you write the name of a celeb on a post-it note and stick to each other's foreheads. You then have to guess who you are by asking questions that only require a yes or a no. I don't know how but I got mine first, with the only clues being American actor over 40. I was Tom Cruise. You could tell the alcohol had taken effect as some people were asking the same questions over and over when it came round to their turn again! I don't suppose you'll get Tom in a room very often with Ozzy Osbourne, Kylie Minogue, Hugh Grant, John Motson, Peter Kaye, Pete Docherty and Atila the Hun. Funnily enough, as the night wore on, both Leigh and I agreed that Simon was looking a tad like Hugh Grant - although the pic (middle) doesn't really pick this up.

We'll certainly have to do another cocktail night again, only I'm not gonna be driving! And, we'll have to think of some good drinking games. Anyway, it was a really fun night, a real good laugh.

Valentine's Day. What's the point?

Last year I received a very romantic dragontree plant from John, which incidentally, is still alive...so what was in store for me this year? Well, he hasn't taken the hint (much)...for when I arrived home, there was a cactus sitting on the kitchen table! However, he did also present a couple of bunches of red roses, albeit, other people's roses left over at the depot where he works, and they looked like they'd seen better days!! Not even a card. There's just no romance any more - I feel like he doesn't really care; there's no thought or feeling put into it. :-( Am I being too picky or is this the typical man of today?

Catching up with technology

Before I was even out of bed this morning, the nice man from Sky installed Sky Plus for us. I could have lived without it but when Johnny gets a notion in his head, nothing stops him. It is very clever though, I can't deny it. As it works off a hard drive, you can now record as many programmes as you like on the satellite channels, although only two if they are scheduled at the same time. However, you can still watch another Sky channel whilst recording another. You can also pause a programme and rewind it up to 60 minutes. Very handy if you fall asleep. Al, you should get it!! :-)

Spurs 3 Southend 1

FA Cup 4th Round. This was the second time in five weeks that the Spurs drew a cup tie with my local town Southend. The first was in the Carling Cup on 20th December when Spurs played pretty poorly and only managed to scrape a 1-0 win in extra time when Defoe scored from a cross, which was considered a contentious off-side.

I suppose it's a bit weird travelling up to Tottenham as a home supporter when the opposition is your home town, but for me, there's no compromise as I've been a Spurs fan for 28 years now and will be until the day I die.

Today, Martin Jol changed the team a fair bit, mainly due to our mid-week game against Arsenal in the Carling Cup semi-final which ended 2-2 despite us going 2 up in the first half. This was the debut for new signing Ricardo Rocha playing at centre back.

Considering the hard work we made of beating them last time, you' d think it would spark a more professional performance wouldn't you? Well, although there were moments of good football and steaming runs through the Southend midfield, there were also times when it looked like a circus - not all Tottenham's fault however - the referee Rob Stiles more than contributed and made some bizarre decisions that left the fans all riled up.




In front of a crowd of 33,406 (surprisingly lots of empty seats), Robbie Keane opened the scoring in a first half with a deflected goal that should really have yielded more. Jermaine Jenas marked his return to the side after injury with a goal that was the very least his performance deserved. Freddy Eastwood did halve the deficit for a short time after scoring a penalty - which, from where we were sitting, looked like a bad decision. However, watching the replay on Match of the Day, the ball did come off Ghali's arm. Mido settled the outcome on 75 minutes. The star of the show (and not first the first time) was Aaron Lennon, whose crosse

Roll on May!

As soon as I received the news that my cousin Matt and his girlfriend Suzie were coming over to visit from Australia, we decided that there needed to be another Eurotrip. Last time when he was over on his own in 2003, we travelled to Rome for 2 days. This was renamed the 'Johnny Tripod Tours' following a hilarious incident involving my John (of course) when he imitated a tour guide holding aloft a flag for the tourists to follow, but instead he used a miniature tripod with a serviette attached. That in itself wasn't funny but when a Japanese tourist started following John down an alleyway, we were all crying with laughter - and so was the waiter who was attending to our al fresco table!! (see blurry pic taken by said waiter). :-)

Anyway, to get back to this year....we decided on Prague for our next destination. I've heard so many people say how lovely the city is so hopefully it'll live up to expectations. The flight has been booked for 29th May, returning on 1st June. That should be plenty of time to explore everything without rushing. Just surfing the net now for a decent and fairly cheap place to stay in the centre of the city.

I'm so looking forward to my cuz coming over and meeting his girlfriend for the first time. They will be here for three weeks and John and I have two of those weeks off work so we'll have plenty of time to spend together. YAY! One of my other cousins Sarah is also getting married at the end of May so something else to look forward to. Just stressing at the prospect of trying to find an outfit!

My Sunday

Ever since I first saw the trailers for the film 'The Pursuit of Happyness', I wanted to see it. So I dragged Johnny out of the house this afternoon along to the Odeon to watch it - well it's better than turning to veg in the armchair, although it's still a sitting down activity! I knew the film would be my cuppa tea; I just love dramas based on true stories. It's far more entertaining to watch something that is true or at least believable (although Johnny would disagree with some of the crap he watches!).

The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith and his real life son (who incidentally is a complete natural), is based on the life of Chris Gardner. He is a bright and talented but struggles to make ends meet and finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them.

I would highly recommend this film, and would give it 9 out of 10.
It left me with tears welling up and a lump in my throat. GO SEE IT! Oh and by the way, there IS a reason for the mis-spelling of happyness!

After the flicks, it was on to my parents' house for one of my Dad's legendary curry nights. Dave, Tina and the kids were there too. YUMMY yummy in my tummy! It's just a shame at times like this that I don't eat meat, coz I'm limited to the veggie curry that Dad makes especially for me. There was time afterwards to have a few games on the Nintendo Wii and whoever wasn't playing, entertained Kasey and little Ronnie, who by the way, is getting more cute by the day. He has curls just like Dave used to have when he was young - he despised it though! Ronnie makes such funny faces - he has everyone cracking up. Not surprising really - he comes from a bonkers family! He says a few words (sort of) like CAAA for cat & BER for ball and DANDA for Grandad. However, he is totally unsure of John and gets quite scared of him - no reason for it (most of the time) but he has been known to make Ronnie cry on several occasions!

Thought(s) of the week

New Year's resolutions - I never make 'em coz I know that I'm too lazy to keep them up. However, it constantly plays on my mind that I need to exercise. Only an extremely unmotivated person could have a gym in their own house and yet not use it! The recommendation is just half an hour of exercise three times a week. So what is my problem? I MUST get out of my armchair and do something about it.

Celebrity Big Brother racism claims - just a tad OTT I feel! Effigies being burnt in India, the PM discussing it in the House of Commons. Good grief! Whilst I think Jade Goody was totally out of order, all we witnessed was two personalities clashing badly, rudeness, lack of respect and perhaps bullying.

January blues - I hate this month so much. It's so depressing; not that Christmas was really great and I'm feeling an anti-climax, but it's the fact that the weather has been dismal, it's still dark in the morning and summer seems a long way off. I think we should cancel January and February and hibernate instead!

Spurs 2 Newcastle one more :-(

Seems like Spurs still have their Christmas hangover....home games were an almost dead cert 3 points before the holiday season but seems like they're back to struggling. However, they certainly didn't deserve to lose today after dominating the game from start to finish and having tons of goal chances. But two lapses in concentration and one moment of brilliance from Martins cost them the game.

The match got off to a fantastic start with shot after shot from Spurs in the first 10 minutes, which finally paid off in the 13th minute when Jermain Defoe (pictured) slotted home from Steed Malbranque's cross. Only 2 minutes later though, Newcastle equalised from an acute angle, totally against the run of play.
Spurs regained the lead in the 2nd half after 53 minutes when Berbatov drove the ball downwards which bounced up over Given's head. On 71 minutes, Obafemi Martins, with little obvious danger, picked up the ball around the edge of the area and with less that half a yard of space, rattling the ball high past Paul Robinson. There was worse to follow when Nicky Butt stormed into the area a minute later and shot across Robinson and into the net. Stunned silence fell over the Lane, with the exception of the corner which housed the away supporters. Despite three substitutions, Spurs failed to get back into the game although close to the end, Defoe struck the crossbar.



It's not very often my boys lose when I go to the game; this is the first time this season. Needless to say I'm gutted, especially as they played good football for the majority of the game.

My baby is back home

Yes, it's the continuing saga of my cat Poppy. After the postponement of her op before Christmas, she went into the vet on 3rd January to firstly be put on a drip and to have her thyroid removed the day after. On the day of the op, I came home early from work as I was feeling really lousy - a repeat of the virus I had at the end of November which lingered for almost 3 weeks. I was about to ring the vet to see how Poppy had got on when John told me that they had already rung that morning. They made a big boo-boo and accidentally fed her so they couldn't go ahead with the op due to the anaesthetic. I was so angry. You'd think they'd have a note on the cage saying 'nil by mouth' wouldn't you?!! Poor little girl having to stay in a cage for a day longer than she had to.

Anyway, she had the op yesterday and when I spoke to the vet, she said that there were a few complications when her blood pressure dropped and some blood vessels had bled and this was probably due to the size of the thyroid - it is usually about the size of a pea but hers was as large as a walnut! Pop was kept in that night as expected and I've just brought her home today (3pm) after paying the £400 bill. She immediately had half a bowl of food which is good, and she's purring and lively. She has to go back for a check up Tuesday evening. I'm really not looking forward to shoving her into the box again - poor thing.

Kylie: a true showgirl

Last night, John and I went to Wembley Arena to see Kylie in concert. This was a continuation of the Showgirl Homecoming Tour which she tragically had to postpone in 2005 when she discovered she had breast cancer.

We decided to drive there as John had arranged with his colleagues at the Wembley depot to park in their carpark, which is literally a few hundred yards away from the arena. Handy eh? See it's who you know not what you know! This saved us dosh and time - actually we arrived far too early really and had to hang around for a couple of hours. The time on the ticket said a 7:30 start so we found our seats a good 10 minutes beforehand. We were in scetion N3 which was to the side of the stage was fairly high up. It was clear that it wasn't going to start that early as half the arena was still empty. I guess they tell you that to get bums on seats well before the show starts.





































So, it was approximately 8:15 when the lights dimmed and the excitement and anticipation of Kylie's emergence circled around the arena. Of course, it was a dramatic entrance, coming up through the floor at the back of the stage, all glammed up in feathers. The welcome she was given was electrifying and Kylie just stood there taking it all in. It was actually really emotional, and I could feel the tears welling up. I know she's not the only person in the world to suffer from cancer, but to see her come through it so bravely and with such dignity, and to then carry on with the tour, is truly the makings of an incredible woman. I admire her greatly.

The show kicked off with 'Better The Devil You Know' which instantly got the crowd up dancing
and clapping their hands. She covered pretty much most of her hits over the years with a few unknowns (to me) thrown in. I particularly enjoyed her version of 'The Locomotion' which was performed in a jazzy 'Chicago' style. After the interval, she emerged from the ceiling sitting on a half moon and sang 'Somewhere over the rainbow' which also made me emotional (that song always does).

It was amazing how many costume changes she made; it must have been about eight. Each time, Kylie would disappear down one of the three holes in the stage floor and then re-emerge as a different character. When it was time for 'Especially For You' I was so hoping that Jason Donovan would walk onto the stage but sadly it wasn't to be. Instead, she got the audience to sing Jason's lines.

The complete schedule went as follows:

ACT ONE: HOMECOMING. Theme of a chorus line.

Showgirl Overture
Better the devil you know
In your eyes
White diamond
On a night like this

ACT TWO: EVERYTHING TABOO. Theme of a London nightclub, late 1980s.

Shocked
What do I have to do
Spinning around

ACT THREE: SAMSARA. Theme of the dawn of time.

Confide in me
Cowboy style
Too far

ACT FOUR: Athletica. Theme of a boxing gym in Hollywood, late 1950s.

Red blooded woman
Slow
Kids

ACT FIVE: DREAMS. Theme of the moon over Broadway, late 1930s.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Come into my world
Chocolate
I believe in you
Dreams (impossible princess)

ACT SIX: Pop Paridiso. Theme of movie stars and pin-ups.

Burning up/Vogue
Locomotion
I should be so lucky
Hand on your heart

ACT SEVEN: DANCE OF THE CYBERMEN. Theme of the age of steel, the far future.

Can't get you out of my head
Light years

ENCORE:

Especially for you
Got be to certain (at the request of a fan)
Love at first sight

I always like to see how artists interact with the audience. Right near the start, I think Kylie had a couple of marriage proposals and declarations of love, to which she giggled and put her hand over her mouth (see pic). She had a good chat with some of the kids near the stage at the end which was really sweet. She does seem like a very warm-hearted person.

It was a fabulously enjoyable concert, one I would highly recommend. Despite having a cold, I found the energy to wiggle my hips and clap my hands all night. Thanks Kylie for a great night. You are a true showgirl!

All over for another year...

Well it's come and gone in a blink of an eye, and very soon another year will be over. Every one seems to go quicker than the last.

Christmas this year was distinctly average as Simon Cowell would say! Usually we all go round Mum's for the day but as Tina and Dave were having lunch guests round their's this time, the day was rearranged. We still gathered at Mum's but earlier than usual (about mid morning) so that everyone could give Dave Tina and the kids their presents before they left. I also had pre-arranged a treasure hunt of the two girls. John and I then went home and we were gonna cook the Christmas dinner this year. Mum and Dad would join us later, together with John's brother Chris, his wife Sandy and their two young children. More presents were exchanged. Unfortunately, the children were quite unsettled and Chris and Sandy were busy most the time attending to them in turn. In fact, I've never seen Chris quite so tired and stressed, so much so that he hardly touched his dinner, which is very unusual! Jennifer is just 3 months old and screams through the night; Joey is 15 months and is into everything! He had the peanuts all over the floor at one point and also the hula hoops and has to touch everything. It's not his fault, he's just at that age where he's exploring and learning.

John bought a Nintendo Wii for Christmas for everyone to have fun with and it is really good. If you've never seen it advertised, it's a new computer game that involves you holding the handset (called the Wii) and having to do the exact actions as if you were doing that particular sport. It includes ten pin bowling, golf, baseball, boxing and tennis. Usually I hate computer games but this is so different; at least it gets you out of your seat and moving around, the boxing is particularly strenuous. A good buy I'd say! "Johnny Moneybags" also bought Buzz on Playstation 2 and we had the Who Wants to be a Millionaire game.

Boxing Day is usually at ours but this year it was at my Mum and Dad's. Unfortunately my brother had to work so he was missing. Ebony is always at her Dad's on Boxing Day so it was just the seven of us. Of course, after a lovely lunch the Wii came out again, and we also tried out the interactive dvds such as Family Fortunes, British Hit Singles and the Eamonn Holmes Spell game.

John was back at work on Wednesday. I had nothing planned except to visit Nan in the afternoon with Mum and Dad. We'd already visited her Christmas Eve to deliver her presents because she was going round my Auntie's for Christmas Day, so this was just a normal social call! She's doing really well lately except for her vertigo which she has to take daily tablets for. Nan's had a new carpet laid already so she well and truly settled in.

On Thursday afternoon, Mum and I took Kasey and Ebony to see The Wizard of Oz at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff (see pic above). At 10 years old, Ebony is a tad old for pantomimes and we tried to convince her that this was definitely not a pantomime. You can imagine how much Mum and me cringed when they started the old "It's behind you" and "Oh yes it is". However, it wasn't like that all the way through; they'd simply added the panto banter to interact with the smaller kids. I've got to say, that for a local theatre performance, it was really quite good. The scenery and costumes were extremely colourful, the acting was pretty good, some of the singing was average but it didn't seem to matter that much. I enjoyed myself anyway, joining in with the songs and clapping along. The only cons were that it was like a sauna in there and we were seated in the rear circle which was literally right at the back and as high as the ceiling.

Later that evening, John's brother Paul and his two girls Ellis and Yasmin came to visit us and stay overnight. Paul is no longer married to Hazel (it was the divorce from hell) and he now lives with girlfriend Nicola and her two children in Derbyshire (not far from Sheffield). Paul's two live with Hazel in Hook, Hampshire, so there's a lot of mileage between them. Another opportunity to get the Nintendo Wii out!! Once again, it was a hit! Mid-morning today, they left to pay visits to the rest of the family.

Today, we had John and Maria (our friends who live opposite us) over to ours from 4pm onwards for Christmas dinner and games. Yes, you can guess it- everyone wants to Wii! Bowling was very popular tonight and we're becoming pretty darn good at it. It wasn't a late night as John has to be at work at 4am to meet a delivery. Good news though - he should be home by 6am and then has a week off.

New Year's Eve, we've invited the family to ours. Poor Dave has to go to work the next day so he won't be able to see in 2007. But hey, it's not important - it's not like we usually make a celebration out of it. We'll just have a buffet tea and probably more Wii-ing!!!

So, a premature Happy New Year to everyone - hope 2007 is a good'n!

Christmas is definitely for kids!

Leading up to Christmas this year, I've felt absolutely no excitement at all. The magic seems to have vanished - still it's taken until age 38 to reach this conclusion, which is not bad...maybe it would be different if I had kids of my own.




I always said I'd never go away for Christmas but I don't think it'd be such a bad thing after all. Not that I have any awful relatives to escape from, it's
just that it's always the same thing every year and I'm bored with it. Gawd, I sound like a real bar humbug don't I? Please don't let me turn into my Dad!

I remember one Christmas Eve night when I was a child (I have no idea what age), but I needed to go to the loo and I was so scared of getting up in case I bumped into Santa! That memory is so vivid, yet I can't ever recall whether I did actually pluck up the courage or whether I managed to get back to sleep!




I've posted a few old photos of Christmas when I was young. Oh such good times they were! Every year Mum and Dad made it so great for us kids. A sack full of presents was always waiting for us at the ends of our beds - of course I thought Santa had left them at the time. We'd always drag the sack into the living room of the flat coz the bedroom we were in was freezing cold (we had no heating back then). After opening a sack full, we'd have breakfast and then later in the morning, we'd all open the presents under the tree. Christmas lunch was at my Nan and Grandad's who lived in the same road (my Mum's parents). In the afternoon, we went over to my other Nan and Grandad's in Rochford, where my Auntie, Uncle and three cousins would also gather. My Grandad was always the creative type, which was handed down to my Dad and also to me and he would always make something for us. In the pic, you will see a wishing well, but other years he also made a dalek, a train engine and a massive cracker, in which there were hidden presents.

When I was a liitle older, when my creative streak had been securely embedded in me, I took charge as the one who thought up ideas of how to entertain the adults. Afternoons then had switched to my Auntie Annette's so there were us five kids and a giant dressing up box. Of course, a lot of the time I had to actually make the stuff beforehand, such as hats, wigs and beards. The things we used to come up with:

* Dressing up as contestants on a Question of Sport including Willie Carson, John McEnroe, Giant Haystacks, Emlyn Hughes and Alex Higgins (see pic)
* Dancing and singing along to the Toy Dolls "Nellie the Elephant" (see pic)
* The Madness Mob - singing and dancing along to Madness
* Dressing up as Boy George and Marilyn - remember Marilyn?! (see pic)
* Performing our version of Cinderella. Me and Debbie as the Ugly sisters, Lee as the Queer fairy, David as the gay prince and Nicola as Cinders. How I knew so much as homosexuality
at such an early age, God only knows! (see pic)
* Creating my own Blankety Blank game

These years were just the best; they were so much fun and ones we'll never have again. Quite sad really.

Strictly fab entertainment!

I've been an avid viewer of Strictly Come Dancing since the last series, and it just gets better and better. The standard of the celeb's dancing is amazing considering they only started training four months ago. The show has surely made ballroom and latin dancing cool and it does actually make you wanna do it yourself. I, however, would be a

huge challenge, seeing as I have five left feet!

Louise Lytton who played Ruby in Eastenders, together with her partner Vincent Simone were my favourites as I found their routines the most entertaining. However, she was knocked out in the quarter final, which left Emma Bunton and Darren Bennett, Mark Ramprakash and Karen Hardy and Matt Dawson and Lilia Kopylova. Mark then became my fave. Despite Emma being probably the most consistent dancer throughout the competetion, she went out in the semi final and so the two sportsman fought out the final. Matt was worthy but Mark was a clear winner for me after a repeat of their fantastic salsa and their free dance containing some phenominal lifts which professionals would take years to perfect. My prediction was correct and someone should've been standing by to sedate Karen Hardy who was (as usual) totally over-excitable!

I've gotta say the BBC have found a winner in this show and I'm sure it'll be on our screens for years to come.

Hmmmmmph!

In case you're wondering, that funny word above is a long aggitated sigh, I just didn't quite know how to spell it!

I was due to drop off my cat Poppy into the vets tomorrow to have a thyroidectomy the day after - she has to go on a drip 24 hours beforehand because of a slight kidney problem. Anyway, I got home this evening only to find out that the vet had called earlier and spoke to John. As Andrea, the particular vet who specialises in these type of operations, is on holiday, they wanted to postpone it until 3rd January.

It's so annoying when that happens coz you build yourself up to something only to be dashed at the last minute. Naturally I was getting a bit nervous and it's always horrible putting your pet through all that. So now I have to wait until after the New Year. I am now on leave from work so that's why I booked the op for this week - fortunately on 3rd January I have a half day and John is off all week, so at least there'll be no problem in that respect.

So lucky Poppy-Lou - you have a reprieve (for now).

Leona has the X Factor!

Congratulations to Leona, winner of the X Factor tonight. Thoroughly deserved in my eyes - she's been consistently good and her vocals are flawless. I was in tears last week when she sang 'Over the Rainbow' and in total awe when she appeared to make light work of two Whitney Houston classics, Nielson's 'Without You' and Eric Carmen's 'All By Myself'.

I very much hope that Leona gets the album she deserves - not just another crappy one full of cover versions. She's far better than that, but it is a worry considering the past two winners. No doubt the single will be Christmas No.1 but it's what happens after that that counts.

I'd also like to say how gracious and gentlemanly Ray was in defeat, a true pro - I hope he gets his reward for being such a charming and entertaining contestant.

Shame it's all over for another year - as always it's been pure entertainment from the auditions right up to the end. After Strictly Come Dancing finishes next week, there'll be nothing much to watch on a Saturday night. :-(


One of my fave performances - I will always love you

Huge grrrrrrrrrrrrrs to Madge

Just look how cute this little guy is.


As a supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), I cannot find a word strong enough to describe how I feel about Madonna right now. Here are some excerpts from various news articles:

Madonna has been criticised by an animal rights group for wearing a real chinchilla fur coat as she left Cecconi's restaurant in London with her husband, Guy Ritchie. She wore the coat, said to be worth 35,000 pounds, and made from the fur of 40 chinchillas.

PETA accused the singer of ignoring cruelty of animals and
urged her to watch videos of animals being farmed for their pelts.

A spokesman for Madonna - who is set to design a range of clothing for high street chain H&M - said he was unable to comment.

Poorva Joshipura, director of Peta Europe, said: "We encourage anyone who wears fur to watch videos of these animals being electrocuted, caught in traps and skinned alive.

"Thousands of people, including Paris Hilton, have said that the videos changed their minds about wearing fur.

"Chinchillas are shy, intelligent animals who can live for up to 15 years in the wild. Yet on fur farms, these animals are violently killed while fully conscious."

Madonna is one of the most famous women on the planet and money is no object. I think these people just don't know what to spend their money on, but why oh why must they parade around in the fur of dead animals for the sake of their vanity? After all, aren't there enough man-made fibres and other materials available?!!

This is not the first time she's been spotted wearing fur. Previously she has worn a £1,000 fox fur hat by Philip Treacy and an astrakhan coat.

The disturbing fact is that fashion experts are claiming that fur is back after years of unpopularity. Sales of fur clothing have risen by 30% in two years and are now worth £500m a year in the UK. Fake imports have dropped by a third.

Naturally Madonna is not the only person to wear fur; it's just that she is the most high profile. Model Kate Moss has also upset protesters by wearing animal hides and appearing in advertising campaigns for Burberry, which uses real fur in its collections.

So, I shall be boycotting all things "Madonna" until she changes her ways. I've already switched stations when one of her songs came on the radio.

Woohoo! Spurs hit 5

Well thank God it was sunny and dry this time. John and I met up with Debs, Mick and Craig outside the ground, had a chat and a few laughs. Before going into the stadium I dragged John into the Spurs shop (the last chance before Christmas - wink wink) and picked a couple things for my stocking!

The game got off to its usual start with Spurs looking hung over, lazy and not particularly bothered! Our opponents Charlton are 2nd bottom of the league and it was really frustrating watching them make a meal of it all. However, the fans today were in full song and the place was electric!

It took until the half hour before the ball was stroked into the path of Berbatov inside the box for the first goal. It was just a couple of minutes later when a headed clearance from a Lennon cross fell in front of Tainio who drilled it home after a deflection off a Charlton defender. Spurs had well and truly woken up by this time and it was looking good, however after a bit of a 'mess' in the penalty area, Charlton got a one back from an own goal, courtesy of Michael Dawson on 41 minutes.

The second half started exactly like the first although they bucked their ideas up a bit quicker. A Tainio cross into the danger zone was headed down by Berbatov and Steed Malbranque controlled with his chest before steering left-footed past Carson and into the net. Steed headed off into the crowd to celebrate his first goal for the club and was promptly booked. Stupid rule if you ask me - get rid of it.

Defoe got in on the act on 62 minutes after Lennon won the ball in the middle of the pitch and set the striker on his way goalwards. Charging towards the right corner of the penalty area, he let fly and Carson was well beaten high inside his left-hand upright. On 65 minutes it really was party time! Berbatov went on the charge to the left of the area, beating two defenders on his way to slotting past Carson from a tight angle.

Berbatov was substituted on 75 minutes to a huge ovation - after a rocky start to the season, he is at last beginning to look worth his £11m transfer fee. Aaron Lennon also had a great game, his best for a while - he never stopped chasing and hassling the whole game, and had a direct hand in 3 of our goals.

Following the huge disappointment of last week's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal (don't get me started on referees!) this week has been great for the club: 3 points against Boro on Tuesday and 3 points today. Can't get any better than that and the Spurs soar up to 8th in the table.

Ooh I love lists! Sorry Al, nicked another one!

Male/Female?	Female
How old are you?	38
How tall?	5'0"
Which languages do you speak?	only English (another lazy Brit) or does Gibberish count?!
How often do you travel abroad?	At least once a year
Have you ever dated a different nationality?	Not exactly "dated" no
Which foreign accent turns your head in your own country?	American/Aussie although I think French is the most sexy
What makes you angry?	so many things! but particularly cruelty to children & animals
What makes you laugh?	larking around & being silly!
When did you last laugh so much you cried?	there probably is an occasion more recent but the most vivid recollection is when I had work friends round for the evening a few years ago & one friend told this true story of something that happened at her job & the way in which she described it, just made me pee my pants - oh & yeah I was crying too!
What sort of movies do you loathe/love watching?	Loathe martial arts, love RomComs, thrillers and true stories
What sort of music do you love/hate listening to?	Loathe rap & hiphop, love most other genres from all decades but Daniel Bedingfield is my fave
Do you have any animals?	yes 4 cats
Would you like to own an animal?	I'd love loads more animals if I owned a large rural property with loads of land
What are your obvious skills/talents?	Remembering facts & organisation
What skill do you wish you possessed?	I wish I was more confident & not get worked up about the silliest things
Have you ever made your own music?	Sort of! I once improvised the wedding march on my keyboard at my Uncle's pretend wedding rerun when he came over from Oz. It was a jazzed up groovy version!
Has anyone ever confirmed you have a talent? What?	Not really
If you had one day left to live, what would you do?	panic!
If you had a five minute warning that the world would end what would you do?	Not a lot you CAN do!
Have you ever had a one night stand?	No
On your wedding day were you 100% sure you were doing the right thing?	Not married
What is your favourite food?	Indian
And the food you most dislike?	eggs
Who do you consider to be the most attractive male celebrity you have ever seen (past or present)	Daniel Bedingfield / Johnny Depp
And female celebrity?	Charlize Theron / Natalie Imbruglia
If you could change something about your body, what would it be?	get perfect eyesight, be taller & get a new head (preferrably one that doesn't get headaches!)
Have you ever had a serious road accident?	No
If you could be a recording artist for a week what song would you record and why?	I have no idea! I'd need to be able to sing in key first, right?!!